Phasecorrect, which albums are you talking about? I'll agree about the recording quality on The Dropper, Uninvisible and End of World. They ARE really muddy. Uninvisible is probably the worst, in terms of recording AND music. It sounds like the band was inside a giant cardboard box and the mics were outside. However, I think the recording quality on the earlier albums is excellent, especially on Friday Afternoon and Shackman.
Anyway, their best CD's are:
It's a Jungle in Here
Friday Afternoon in the Universe
Shackman
Combustication
Actually, that's the order they came out in, too. Their first disc is Notes From the Underground. It's good too, but John plays acoustic piano exclusively. It's a bit more traditional as opposed to the "12 keyboards in a tornado" sound of those other albums.
If you haven't listened to any of the above albums (especially Friday and Jungle) give them a try. You'll finally see why MMW gets so much recognition in the jazz world. They're wild, disonnant and reckless, yet groovy and funky. Definitly not boring.
I don't know what's happened to them in recent years...I think all the hip-hop/DJ/turntable influence has hurt them. In their effort to gain new fans and mainstream sucess, they've alienated a lot of their old fans, like me.
